Residents Get a Glimpse of the Future With Eye Exams at High-Tech Clinic

A Long Beach housing project on Wednesday became the unlikely home of the nation’s first telemedical clinic specializing in virtual eye exams.

With the opening of the eye clinic at the Carmelitos public housing development, low-income residents will be able to have their eyes examined by a doctor 20 miles away through the use of two-way interactive video and audio equipment.

A technician will transmit pictures of the patient’s eye to doctors at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

Ophthalmologists will be able to talk to the patient while examining the eye on a TV monitor, or file a picture of the eye for later study.

The preventive eye care research program was developed by Drew University and the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, which owns and operates Carmelitos.

“The reason we are making this effort is that people in low-income areas traditionally lack access to appropriate health care,” said Dr. Charles W. Flowers Jr., project director and assistant professor of ophthalmology at Drew. “Too many of these people are going blind because they don’t have access to eye care.”

He also plans to conduct video meetings at the clinic to educate patients on eye care and eye problems.

The clinic will provide cost-effective eye screenings, diagnosis and consultation, and will allow researchers an opportunity to address medical problems related to poor patient access and high health costs, Flowers said.

The Carmelitos housing project, consisting of 713 apartments and housing 1,787 residents, recently was designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Campus of Learners.

Project residents will have an opportunity to apply for training as technicians at the eye clinic.